The Secrets Hidden in Chana’s Prayer • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon HaTzaddik

Here is the full daily lesson as delivered by The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, last night—Monday night, the eve of the 28th of Av, Parshas Shoftim—after the Ma’ariv prayer:

“Then Chana the prophetess said: ‘The bow of the mighty is shattered, and the stumbling are girded with strength’ (I Shmuel 2:4)—‘The bow of the mighty is shattered’ refers to the Greeks, who ruled for one hundred and eighty years. And he called it Yegar—this was after two hundred and thirteen years from when they built the House, and then Chanukah came to be.

And then Antiochus decreed all the decrees. Antiochus has the same gematria as Yosef, because they blemished Yosef—they blemished the true Tzaddik. From that come all the wicked and all the decrees.

After this: ‘Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread’ (ibid. 2:5)—this refers to the seventy sons of Haman, for he had seventy sons, and everywhere he went he would “produce” some son in every province. He said: ‘and the multitude of his sons’ (Esther 5:11)—what, they didn’t know how many sons he had? Rather, he revealed that all the CEOs, all the heads of governments—every one of them—were his sons. So Mordechai has nowhere to run: wherever he runs, I will catch him, because they are all my sons.

But: ‘the hungry have ceased’—‘the hungry’ refers to Mordechai and Esther. For Esther saw that all kinds of Haman’s sons were coming. ‘He peers through the windows, He gazes through the lattices’ (Shir HaShirim 2:9)—this is Queen Esther, says the Targum on Megillas Esther. Who is this ‘peering through the windows, gazing through the lattices’? This is Queen Esther—who was only dancing and dancing; and in this way she hanged Haman, and in this way all the enemies of Israel were cut down, and we will merit the complete Geulah.”

To watch the replay of last night’s Ma’ariv broadcast with singing and niggunim—the lesson begins at 29:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfsOlmE2Fo4&ab_channel=%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%91%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9D